Holy Trinity Watches

Watch Snob: The Holy Trinity Of Watchmakers

Judging The Big Three

Dear Watch Snob,

I would like to ask your opinion on the validity of the generally accepted notion of the Holy Trinity of Swiss watches. In particular, the membership of Vacheron and Audemars in the said trinity -- seeing as how the former often uses movements from (much beloved) JLC and the latter offers such tasteless watches as the Royal Oak Offshore.

Secondly, I would particularly want to ask you about the Offshore. I know that you are not averse to the watch, as I heard you mention Sheamus owning one once. I am still dumbfounded as to how anybody who appreciates fine watches can be interested in this G-Shock/Hublot-esque monstrosity?

Sincerely,Nik

The so-called Holy Trinity (better referred to as the Big Three, to spare our Roman friends their blushes) is what it is for several reasons. Audemars, Vacheron and Patek all have tremendous history, continuity and technical ability, and, by and large, none of them have ever dabbled downmarket. (I say, by and large, advisedly; economic crises make fools of us all. Case in point: Jacques-Barthélemy Vacheron sold cherry brandy during the Napoleonic Wars to make ends meet.) And everyone has used Jaeger LeCoultre movements (including Patek Philippe, don't forget), so you can't hold that against AP.

The Royal Oak Offshore is an anomaly, but it's been an astonishingly profitable one for Audemars Piguet, which means we are stuck with it for the foreseeable future. Like everything else Audemars Piguet does, it does it well, and the Offshore family's gotten so big that it's difficult to generalize, but in its most common incarnations, it obviously is intended to signal high net worth rather than any real knowledge of watches or watchmaking. When I think of the Offshore, I think of a nouveau-riche expat in Ibiza -- or, even better, the feckless scion of a nouveau-riche expat in Ibiza, wearing an open-collared shirt and driving a hired Ferrari. I leave it to you to decide if that's a compliment.

You are correct in remembering that Sheamus once wore an Offshore, but Sheamus took his degree in philosophy, so assumptions of common sense from that quarter are not given. Besides, it takes a certain kind of gent to get away with being louche without being a lout. Unless you are very sure of yourself, don't push your luck.

On the other hand, I think the Offshore Grand Complication subverts the basically dull loudness of the Offshore so nicely I'd wear it in an instant. But if you want to see a watch that I think really represents Audemars Piguet at its best, go look at the Jules Audemars Equation of Time. Or the Tradition Tourbillon Minute Repeater. Or the Royal Oak 39 mm. Or, really, almost anything that's not the Royal Oak Offshore.